2 Sow or Not 2 Sow

ABSTRACT

This is an educational board game for Christians, for up to six players, ages 8 and older. 
     The game consists of a square game board, four decks of special playing cards, game money, three dice, character cards, colored crowns used as moving markers, scratch paper, and reader-friendly directions. The game is designed to instruct Christians on the benefits of sowing financial seeds—physical seeds—by volunteering time in the church or honorable organizations, managing their finances correctly, and being a good steward of what they have control over, while seeking out opportunities to increase the help they give to others as well as ways to increase their passive and portfolio income. 
     It provides Biblical insights on the Kingdom System of Provision and the laws that govern it. The game is needed by Christians of all ages, since it teaches how to prosper via God&#39;s way, while facing real-life, everyday challenges. It covers basic accounting, basic investments, and the Kingdom System of Provision. It provides immediate feedback and real-life results, in response to the players&#39; correct and incorrect choices as they relate to tithing, giving offerings, helping individuals in need, volunteering their time, managing their finances, seeking out business ventures, and following the laws of sowing and reaping.

BACKGROUND OF THE GAME

1. Field of Invention

The present board game communicates the results of sowing seeds. It is an interactive, Bible-based, multiplayer board game. The game addresses the importance of financial management, investments, tithing, and sowing good seed, while facing challenging life events. A successful player is one who advances to the Inner Circle and is able to achieve his or her God-given dreams and goals.

2. Description of Prior Art

There are several other board games that address financial management and investments. The following are example of prior artwork that appears to be relevant:

Patent No. Kind Code Issue Date Patentee 7,021,262 A1 Apr. 04, 2006 Keith A. Butler 11 5,529,308 A1 Jun. 25, 1996 Jose Masakayan 0,212,205 A1 Sep. 29, 2005 Kathy Marie Foreman 0,278,741 A1 Feb. 06, 2007 Ashley Woodbury

Each of the above board games uses a board where players move in a certain pattern that demonstrates Biblical teaching. However, none of these games teaches Biblical values as it relate to personal finances and business in the method of the present invention. None of the prior art uses the unique colorful board with pictures that illustrate modern real-life challenges. Nor do any of the board games use color crowns as moving markers. More importantly, none of these boards offers clear demonstrations of how tithing and sowing seeds affects one's everyday life.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is the objective of the present invention to educate people in a board game environment the Kingdom principle of sowing seeds and reaping harvests.

Countless Christians have harbored the desire to gain wealth and see great success in their everyday life. But many are unaware of how sowing financial seeds, volunteering for a worthy cause, or deciding to help someone in need and being a good steward of what they have is directly related to their reaping great success in business as well as in everyday life. The present board game provides a comprehensive approach to gaining wealth and favor that can be applied in everyday life, starting at any level in life. The interactive multiplayer game includes a board game with pictures of good and bad life events.

The board is square in shape, with 28 smaller squares, of different colors, lined around the edge of the board, with four separate spaces to hold playing cards. In the center of the board, there is a second level where players may advance. The second level is in the shape of a circle, divided into eight landing spaces. In the center of the circle is a crown with the words “Kingdom Principles” in the middle. The board can be folded to fit comfortably in the included storage box. Along with the board, the game includes playing money with the unique picture of a king in the center of the bills; six crowns of different colors used as moving markers; three rolling dice; one deck of 50 cards called The Tither; one deck of 50 cards called The Harvest; one deck of 50 cards called Ooops; one deck of 50 cards called The Prospect; and 12 Character Cards.

The game begins with each player picking a Character Card. This card will tell the player what occupation they will have, how much money they owe to creditors, and how much money they will receive each time they land on Paycheck or Payday.

Next, each player chooses a crown place marker. Each player places his or her marker in the square of the board that reads “Start here.” The first player rolls a six-sided dice, which determines how many spaces the player will move on the game board. The player then moves his or her crown that number of spaces. The player reads the box that he or she lands on and carries out the requested task.

There are two levels on the board. In order to advance to Level 2, the player must successfully pay off their debt and replace their Paycheck income with other income that they may obtain by pulling a card from the Prospect deck. Once the player advances to Level 2, they must dedicate their efforts towards fulfilling their goals and dreams. The first player to initiate their goal and implement their dream wins the game.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1—Example of the playing board

FIG. 2—Example of one of the 12 Character Cards used during the game

FIG. 3—Example of the crowns (in six different colors) that players use to mark their space on the board during the game

FIG. 4—Example of the drawing cards called the Tither Card.

FIG. 5—Example of the drawing cards called the Ooops Card

FIG. 6—Example of the drawing cards called the Prospect Card

FIG. 7—Example of the drawing cards called the Harvest Card

FIG. 8—Example of the play money

FIG. 9—Example of the three rolling dice

FIG. 10—Example representing the storage box

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The game board is prepared by unfolding it and placing it on a flat surface. Then place the Tither Cards, Ooops Cards, Prospect Cards and Harvest Cards in their appropriate places on the board. All words on the cards should be placed face down.

Level 1 of the Board Game has 28 Possible Landing Spaces, as Follows:

FIG. 1A—“Sow a Seed, Reap an Instant Harvest.” By landing here, a player has the option to sow a financial seed and reap an instant harvest. The seed is determined by the Character Card. The harvest is determined by selecting a card from the Harvest Card stack.

FIG. 1B—“Paycheck.” By landing here, a player will receive their paycheck. The paycheck is determined by the Character Card. Once a player receives their paycheck, they are faced with the option to sow their tithe or not. If the player chooses not to tithe, they must select an Ooops Card, which is filled with life challenges. If the player chooses to tithe, they must choose a Tithe Card, which is filled with blessings. Once a card is drawn, the player must carry out that task.

FIG. 1C—“?” By landing here, player must carry out whatever action that was required of player prior to landing here.

FIG. 1D—“Prospect.” By landing here, the player may choose a Prospect Card, which is filled with opportunities on all levels. If the opportunity is a good fit for the player, the player may carry out the task. However, if it is not a good fit, the player must pass up the opportunity.

FIG. 1E—“Married and Having a Baby.” By landing here, the player's debt will increase by the amount the Character Card states. if they have more than three children when they land, “Married and Having a Baby” is just a free landing space with no consequences.

FIG. 1F—“Ooops.” By landing here, the player must choose an Ooops Card, which is loaded with life challenges.

FIG. 1G—“Give to Charity; Reap an Instant Harvest.” By landing here, the player may choose to sow a seed into charity and reap an instant harvest by pulling a Harvest Card. If the player does not choose to sow, there are no consequences.

FIG. 1H—“Steward Check.” During the course of the game, the person to each player's right must keep track of how many times the player to their left has tithed or decided not to tithe. When a player lands on Steward Check, the person to their right must add up how many times they pulled from the Tither deck or the Ooops deck. Whichever deck they pulled from the most is the deck they must pull two cards from when landing on Steward Check.

Level 2 of the Board Game has These Possible Landing Spaces:

FIG. 1I—“Sow.” By landing here, a player may choose to sow financially into another player's life by paying off one bill. If the player does so, they must collect one of the player's rings and pull a Harvest Card. The player may choose not to sow at all, with no consequences.

FIG. 1J—“Reap.” By landing here, a player may pull a Harvest Card and carry out that task, but only if the player tithed the last time they landed on Payday. If the player did not tithe, they must draw from the Ooops deck.

FIG. 1K—“Payday.” By landing here, a player will receive money and have an option to tithe or not. If the player decides to tithe, they will pull a Tithe Card. if the player chooses not to tithe, they must pull an Ooops Card.

FIG. 2—At the start of the game, each player will select a Character Card. This card will depict the following things about the character: how much money the player has in savings, how much debt the player has, the player's dream, the player's destiny, how much the player's paycheck is, how much the player should tithe, and how much the player's debt would increase if the player has a baby. It will also depict how much seed a player should sow in order to reap a certain amount of Harvest Cards.

FIG. 3—Each player should select a colored crown of his or her choice, as well as its matching ring. Selected crowns and rings will represent them for the entire game. A crown is what each player will use to move around the board. A ring is what a player will give to the player who helps pull them out of a financial jam.

FIG. 4—The Tithe Card—The King James Bible teaches us that tithing is a commandment, and when you tithe, you are guaranteed to receive certain things. This stack of cards is filled with all the benefits a player may reap for being a tither.

FIG. 5—The Ooops Card—The King James Bible teaches us that tithing is a commandment, and when you don't tithe, things may not go smoothly in life. The Ooops stack is filled with bad things that could go wrong due to not tithing. When the stack is used up, it is shuffled and reused.

FIG. 6—The Prospect Card—This stack is filled with many investment and business opportunities. When the stack is used up, it is shuffled and reused.

FIG. 7—The Harvest Card—This stack is filled with all positive things. When the stack is used up, it is shuffled and reused.

FIG. 8 is a picture of the game money that will be used during the course of the game. There will be bills with the following values: $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500 and $1,000.

FIG. 9 is a picture of the dice each player will use to determine how many spaces they will move around the board.

The format of the game can be embodied in several ways. For example: An actual physical appearance, with a game board and game pieces. Or it could be an electronic format, making it possible to be played on a computer, hand-held device or video game. Or it could be played over a network such as LAN or the Internet, as well as on a single machine. 

1. A Biblical educational board game apparatus to teach the Kingdom principles of sowing and reaping comprising: a playing board having a first plurality of spaces forming an outer playing path; a second plurality of spaces forming an inner circle within said first plurality of spaces, a finish location within said inner circle; a plurality of player game piece; each player starts the game with set goals and dreams; an apparatus for determining movement of the player game piece; a prospect deck comprising a plurality of individual cards; a player initially begins play in the outer playing path in debt where the player increases debt or received paycheck income based upon movement of the player in the first plurality of spaces; a player progresses from the outer playing path to the inner circle when the player no longer has debt; when the player is within the inner circle the player replaced paycheck income by selecting a card from the prospect deck where the player dedicated the player's efforts to fulfill the player's goals and dreams; the board play offers tests, provides entertainment, and allows chance, choice and competition; players sow financial seeds-physical seeds by volunteering time to help honorable organizations; players contribute to a reaping of harvests; the player's ability to gain victory and win the game is by funding the player's dream and goal by drawing prospect cards whereby allowing the player to progress from the inner circle to the finish location and win the game.
 2. (canceled)
 3. The game of claim 1 wherein said playing board is transportable and foldable.
 4. (canceled)
 5. The game of claim 1, that further includes game money.
 6. The game of claim 1, that further includes crown figures to represent players on the playing board.
 7. The game of claim 1, that further includes a plurality of decks of cards to be used by the players.
 8. The game of claim 7 wherein at least one of said plurality of decks of cards is a deck of Tither Cards that describe positive things that players may encounter because of the act of tithing.
 9. The plurality of decks of cards of claim 7 in which a deck of Ooops Cards describes negative things that players may encounter because of the act of not tithing.
 10. The plurality of decks of cards of claim 7 in which a deck of Harvest Cards describes positive things that players may encounter because of the act of sowing seeds to charity.
 11. (canceled)
 12. The game of claim 1 includes Character Cards; wherein each player will pick one Character Card at the beginning of the game and will use the Character Card during the entirety of the game.
 13. The game of claim 12, wherein a player chooses a Character Card that describes the player's financial position, such as how much money the player has at the start of the game, how much debt the player has as well as the player's dream, and the player's destiny.
 14. The game of claim 7 wherein players must choose to tithe, each time they the player lands on a Paycheck or Payday space.
 15. The game of claim 14 in which once players decide to tithe, the player must pull from the Tither deck, or if the player decides not to tithe, the player must choose from the Ooops deck.
 16. The game of claim 1 if the player lands on Prospect, the player must pull a card from the Prospect deck and may purchase properties or invest in business.
 17. (canceled)
 18. The game of claim 1 that is restructured to be played on a computer system or on a computer network. 